Morgoth

That's North Korean MBA wisdom!

Hey, puplishers always expect too much. They always want more. But seriously. Mass Effect was done. Development, VO, marketing. All done. EA "only" needed to deal with the conversion (no, actually, even Bioware handled that on their own), distribution and (of course!) the multi-million copy protection deal. Whatever. Even DA was completely financed internally by Bioware. They never needed a publisher until the very end (VO work, production stuff). That shows me that Bio on it's own did pretty well, and that EA virtually didn't have to pay huge chunks for the development for DA. Both EA and Bio wins in that deal (again).

ME sold 2,5 million units on the 360 alone. Add the PC sales, and you have 3 million. Now don't tell me those aren't good numbers. you do know that EA has not seen a single dime from the Xbox release? so if they even sold 500k (which i realy doubt) ME PC that is for EA surely disapointing release... Boy, you really have some nerve. ME (PC) was the deal for EA! Just imagine, they only had to spend money for the conversion! And SecuRom and activation servers + their maintenance + staff who must solve billions of problems with DRM... Standard procedure. That's the service that comes with publishers. You behave like you need 200000000 gazillion units sold to have one technical guy getting paid who is doing the SecuROM preperations/maintainence.

ME sold 2,5 million units on the 360 alone. Add the PC sales, and you have 3 million. Now don't tell me those aren't good numbers. you do know that EA has not seen a single dime from the Xbox release? so if they even sold 500k (which i realy doubt) ME PC that is for EA surely disapointing release... Boy, you really have some nerve. ME (PC) was the deal for EA! Just imagine, they only had to spend money for the conversion!

The question is, will NX3 even get a smaller budget than SoZ? Paying 30

Yeah, Fallout 3 is based on Gamebryo. Not sure however if it also can make woman pregnant...

Oh come on, I'm not getting into this mud fight again. Obsidian? "Who is that?" the majority might wonder. Perhaps they can start talking in the lime light like Bioware when they finally get some real games (AP, Aliens) released.

First point totally agree, the skilled folks would simply find homes elsewhere to continue their craft. Second point, You sir have regained some of my respect... Jim Ross: MCA delivers a massive clothesline to the Woo-miester.. Woo staggers to the ropes The King: Look at JE on the apron JR, itching for a tag, hes ready to lay some smack down on Gaider the way he's looking at him! More likely, Obsidian will fold if they keep releasing outdated NWN2 expansions and then their devs get picked up by Bioware. If they like to live in Edmonton, that is.

I remember that MS announced in Dezember 2007 that ME sold 1,6 million units worldwide, but by now it's about 2,5 million units. So yeah, probably not all units were sold for full price. But I still think both MS and Bioware were very pleased with the performance, otherwise we wouldn't see the trilogy get done.

You don't have 100 people working for 3 years on that game. Mass Effect actually took 4 years, as I exactly remember that they started thinking/planning about it when Kotor Xbox shipped. You usually start with 1 guy, or 5. Later the team gets ramped up and so on, until you reach over 100 for a period of severel months. Then it starts to decline again. But you'll never need 100 people constantly on the project. That's why Bio (and every well managed company) has an internal turn-around cycle, so that specific people can always be applied for the right job. And I don't exactly know how large the profit margins for Bioware were. They own the property and took a lot risk on their own chest, so I suppose they got a good deal with MS that should serve Bio very well.

Some Microsoft dude mentioned it in an interview not too long ago...I'm not digging that link up though. The PC numbers are only guessed, but I think a few hundred thousands it should be. Where do you get the idea that 2 million is breaking point? Do you even know how much ME cost to develop?

ME sold 2,5 million units on the 360 alone. Add the PC sales, and you have 3 million. Now don't tell me those aren't good numbers.

Pandemic never really made any good games in the first place, but that's prolly not the answer to their demise. Specifically the Brisbane studio blew it. They didn't manage to get their Dark Knight game released, and Mercenaries 2 didn't sell well either, I heard. And what about that Sabotage game? Still haven't heard anything about that for eons. That doesn't speak for a good portfolio record....unlike Bioware, whose games keep getting better critically and sales number wise. Li vivu Bioware!

Restarted a ME session and now I'm playing with an Adept, plus hardest difficulty. It's a lot more tactical and fun this time around. I really should get rid of that habit always playing a tough soldiers guy and then complaining that it was too easy...

Good that I don't live in America then.

I think if they let Pandemic Australia "set free" into the wild, I suppose the same could happen with Bioware. It still irks me why MS hasn't done the same with Ensemble.

Where did you do your MBA, North Korea? No. But thanks for the compliment.

You got it all wrong. It's exactly part of the reason of the current economic crysis, because some top managers think "they can do whatever they please with their properties, including all their assets (i.e. employees)" There needs to be a rulework. For example, Microsoft shut down Ensemble Studios (despite having multi-million sellers and their upcoming Halo Wars on their portfolio) for "internal strategic property review" bullcrap like that reason. Meaning, they can't be squeezed out for making more Halo games. You think that's good company politics if you shut down a 10 year old studio just because it doesn't fit in your current franchise politics? Sorry, this is wrong. You can argue that you can shut down studios for being incompetent or being inprofitable, but not for "political" reasons. This crap needs to stop.

What does this news have to do with Bioware? Bioware/Pandemic doesn't exist anymore. Both were bought by EA, therefor the former joint venture firm Elevation Partners dissolved. Oh, and Pandemic? Who cares? Bioware is Bioware. They'll never fold. I'd bet a million on that. @Volourn Typically cynical as ever. You also know that companies get closed despite making tons of profit these days? You think that's okay?

Indeed, all though it does seem strange that you've been indulging in the argument as much as anyone else. Hey, it's 2009, remember? I haven't made silly comparisons a'la "NWN graphics > IE". I merely stated that NWN's graphics were good/great when it was released.

No. Different game, different needs. NWN graphics were great wehn it was released in 2002 in my biased, uneducated opinion. For present standards, it isn't IMO. Corrected. Trying to play the smartass again? Or why do people who can't accept other opinions then always try to "correct" others posts?

What? People are still arguing over graphics of stone old games? Get over yourself, Volourn & Co. This is 2009.

Heh. Now that I remember, wasn't there also a Pinball game done with the Unreal Engine (!) ? Epic Pinball I think it was called. Might wanna check that out if you're into Pinball.

Codemasters? Codemasters.... Oh, now I remember. Colin McRae. Dirt. Grid. All these racing games. Is Nightshape working on a PS3-exclusive racing game? Will it have great level design?